Geschiedenis van Dido en Aeneas
Medium
etching
Dimensions
71; 98
About this artwork
height 71 mm x width 98 mm
Art Historical Context
Gerard de Lairesse's *Geschiedenis van D en Aeneas* ( of Dido and Aene), created in 1668, is a delicate etching capturing the tragic love story from Virgil's *Aeneid*. This Dutch artist, a key figure in the late 17th-century Classicist movement, drew inspiration from ancient mythology and French academic ideals, blending them with the refined elegance of the Dutch Golden Age. At just 71 mm high by 98 mm wide, the intimate scale invites close viewing, revealing intricate details of the doomed romance between Carthage's queen Dido and the Trojan hero Aeneas. Etching, de Lairesse's favored mediu...
About the Artist
Gerard de Lairesse · 1641–1711
Gerard de Lairesse (1641–1711) was a leading figure of the Dutch Golden Age, renowned as both a painter and art theorist whose classical ideals bridged the dramatic realism of Rembrandt with the refined elegance of French academism. Born on September 11, 1641, in Liège, he was the second son of the painter Renier de Lairesse (1597–1667). De Lairesse received his initial training under his father b...